08/20/2026
Thinking about a rental property?
Two lenders can look at the very same property and reach completely different conclusions about what you can afford.
Some use what's called a rental offset, subtracting a percentage of the rent from the mortgage payment. Others use an add back, counting a percentage of the rent as income. It sounds like a technicality, and it changes your debt service ratios significantly, which in turn decides how many properties you're able to hold.
Lenders also differ on how much of the rent they'll recognize at all, and on whether they want a signed lease or an appraiser's estimate of market rent.
If you're buying one property, this matters. If you're hoping to build something over time, it matters enormously, because the wrong starting lender can quietly cap you at two or three doors.
Talk to us before the first purchase, not after the third. We'll map out which lenders let you keep growing and which ones stop you early.
